"Bring It On: The Musical,' on Broadway

Who needs the Olympics?

This new musical about competition between high school cheerleading squads contains many similarities to the Olympics and turns out to be more entertaining.

Steve Cohen

Aug 11, 2012 · Articles · 3 minute read

Joyce Carol Oates contemplates Emily Dickinson

Thelma and Louise? No, Emily and Joyce

Why is Joyce Carol Oates so fascinated by Emily Dickinson? It may be because the two have much in common. As women writers, both have suffered scorn and rejection.

Carol Rocamora

Aug 11, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Beards Are For Shaving': 007 spoof at the Wilma

Bond gets bearded

The collaborative Bearded Ladies Cabaret has been around for a couple of years now, peppering Philadelphia theaters and hotel lobbies with snide remarks, grimacey glances and mimey antics worthy of silent film villains. James Bond is its latest victim.

Merilyn Jackson

Jul 28, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Bruce Graham's "Mr. Hart and Mr. Brown' at People's Light

Ties that bind

Bruce Graham's Mr. Hart and Mr. Brown imagines an encounter between two men fleeing from their past in 1920s Nebraska.

Bill Murphy

Jul 22, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

Suffering for art: An actress speaks

Passion, pain, art and money: In defense of suffering artists

Is suffering for art ultimately a romantic but masochistic notion? As an actress, I disagree with BSR's Jackie Atkins. Artists don't measure our success by the material rewards. And we shouldn't.

Jessica Foley

Jul 10, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Once': A musical about nothing, on Broadway

Calling Jerry Seinfeld

Other critics have praised the Broadway musical Once for its love story, its great songs and its compelling characters— all elements that I found lacking.

Steve Cohen

Jul 07, 2012 · Articles · 2 minute read

"Other Desert Cities' and "My Children! My Africa!'

Political protest and its unintended consequences

In two powerful plays about political protest— in the Vietnam-era U.S. and apartheid South Africa— everyone pays a price for discord between the generations.

Carol Rocamora

Jul 01, 2012 · Articles · 6 minute read

Bright Light's "The Fifth Floor'

Standing room only

Why didn't Shakespeare think of this? The Fifth Floor is a drama performed entirely in an elevator, complete with real (albeit unsuspecting) passengers who have no idea what they've stumbled into.

Alaina Johns

Jun 26, 2012 · Articles · 4 minute read

"Harvey' on Broadway

Rabbit on a slippery slope

Long before the American theater of the absurd, Mary Chase's Harvey offered useful lessons about the value of an active imagination as a survival tool in an absurd world.

Carol Rocamora

Jun 26, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read

Lantern's "The Island' (4th review)

Incarceration, Inc.

The Island, Athol Fugard's co-authored play about prisoners on South Africa's infamous Robben Island, is both historically dated and timelessly relevant— especially to America's own carceral society, and our own political prison at Guantanamo Bay. The Island. By Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshuma; Peter DeLaurier directed. Closed June 10, 201 at the Lantern Theater, 923 Ludlow St. (215) 829-0395 or www.lanterntheater.org.

Robert Zaller

Jun 12, 2012 · Articles · 5 minute read